SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga volleyball (5-9, 1-2 ) picked up its first West Coast Conference win over Saint Mary's (25-12, 12-25, 25-22, 33-31) at the Charlotte Y. Martin Center Thursday, grinding through a fourth set that went deep into extra points to topple the Gaels (7-6, 1-3).
Junior outside hitter Kennedy Croft poured in 15 kills and a game-high four aces — the most she's served up in a single game in her career — to lead a resilient Bulldogs performance that very well could've bled into a fifth set if not for GU's composure late..
GU served up 12 service aces in total, with Keau Kamake'eaina, Viktoriya Ivanova and Dani Batenhorst adding two apiece and Marshall and Alisa Kim finishing with one each.
"We just came out with a lot of heart tonight," said Croft, who added four digs and two block assists in the winning effort. "The numbers weren't pretty, but we came out and played for each other, and that's what got us the win."
Fellow junior outside McKenna Marshall added 12 kills and freshman middle blocker Juliette Russell connected on 10 of her own to make it three Bulldogs in double digits. Kamake'eaina set up 38 of the Zags' 46 assists and a career-high six kills, and Kim and Ivanova led GU in digs with 14 and 15, respectively.
The Action
The Bulldogs put on an offensive clinic in the first set, posting a .348 hitting average and connecting on six service aces for a lopsided 25-12 win. After back-to-back kills from Croft and Russell, Marshall's first ace of the night made it 6-3 Zags, and they'd only grow their lead throughout the set.
Back-to-back aces from Croft extended the lead to 14-8, but the Zags didn't stop there. A 4-0 run that saw another ace from Alisa Kim and three Gaels errors made it 20-10 to force an SMC timeout, and the Zags closed the set on a 5-2 tilt to take a 1-0 lead.
Saint Mary's took an early lead of its own in the second, pulling ahead 10-4 after a 4-0 run and stretching the lead to 16-6 after a service ace. GU went on a rally of its own to get back within single digits — punctuated by a Kamake'eaina-assisted kill from Croft — but the Gaels scored the final five points of the set to win by the same 25-12 score and tie it up at one apiece.
GU reached game highs in kills (17) and attack average (.394) in a third set that was considerably tighter than the first two, with both teams tying up the score seven times before a 5-1 Zags run that saw kills from Russell, Kamake'eaina and Marshall gave them a 13-10 lead for an advantage they wouldn't give up for the rest of the set. Another 3-0 run, this time fueled by a kill and a service ace from Dani Batenhorst, helped keep a Gaels comeback at bay before Croft and Batenhorst picked up a block to end the set on an exclamation point for a 2-1 lead.
GU kept rolling in a wild fourth and final set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead after back-to-back kills from Russell and Croft going up by as much as six (12-6) when Croft followed up an SMC service error with her 14th strike of the night. The Gaels found life late, going on a 8-5 run to take a 24-21 lead, but GU responded in kind, scoring three unanswered to tie it up at 24-all and force extra points. The score had surpassed 30 by the time GU could put together two straight scores, but an attack error and a bad set on two Ivanova serves sealed the deal for a 3-1 win.
Up Next
The Zags' WCC homestand continues with a matchup with Pacific on Saturday at noon. Check GoZags.com and follow @ZagVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date game time and ticketing information, coverage and more.
